Electric-railway rail-bond.



Nu. 633,887. I Patanted Sept. 26, I899.

' T. J. McTIGHE.

ELECTRIC RAlLWAY RAIL BOND.

(Aypiicutina Mud In 24, 1809.)

{In Model.)

A TTORNEYS lib I THOMAS J. MOTIGHEE, OF NEW YORK, Y.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY. RAIL-EON e.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,887, datedSeptember 26, 1899. Application filed May 24, 71899. Serial in. 713,092.on model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MOTIGHE, a citizen of the United States,and aresident ofnew York, in the county of New York and bility in alldirections to accommodate the various motions to which railway-rails aresubject in use.

A further objectofmy invention is to construct such a rail-bond of asingle piece of wrought metal.

A further object is to form the terminals in such a way as to facilitatetheir application to the drill-holes in the rails and effect a tight andpermanent contact therewith.

To these and other ends my invention consists in the construction andmode of application, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings which form part of this specification, Figures 1 and 2are respectively a face view and transverse section of a railbond madeafter my invention before the body has been made flexible. Figs. 3 and 4are similar views of the same bond after the slitting of the middleportion of the body or strap. Figs. 5 andfi are respectively a sideelevation and transverse vertical section of one kind of slitting-dieswhich can be used Figs. 7, 8, and 9 areface views of the finished bondwith the strips bent laterally to allow. for contraction and expansionof the rails. Fig. 10 isan edge view showing the slitted strap withtransverse crimping for thesame purpose. Fig. 11 isa transverse sectionof a modification, and Fig 'i 12 shows the rail and one terminalinsection and the adjacent faces of the compressing-tool ready foroperation of upsetting said terminal in the hole drilled for it in therail.

Fig. 1 illustrates the form I prefer,with the solid massive terminals Afor attachment to the rails, with ilanges or shoulders a wholly isurrounding the said terminals and the flat connecting body or strap B,the terminals A being designed to passe little more than through therail to allow for upsetting therein. Such a rail-bond may be made invarious ways but I prefer to make it of a single piece of wire or rod byupsetting, shaping, and flattening, as described in my application filedMarch 23 arail-bond all the parts of which are abso- 1897, Serial No.628,886, thus producing lutely integral and in which the terminals aremassive and solid. The bond is as yet practically unyielding to verticaland longitudinal movement of the rails. I therefore subdivide the strapB'into a number of parallel strips 0 in any suitable manner-such,for'example, as the slitting-dies D E. The slits do not extend to theterminals,'as it is desirable to leave an unbroken flange or shoulder aall around the head of the solid terminal. This slitting maybe done withsaws or by other me'aus- The rail-bond thus formed, Figs. 3 and 4, isquite flexible and will yield to all lateral and vertical movements ofthe rails, and if applied diagonally to the rails it allows forcontraction and expansion; but I propose to bend'the strap or its row ofstrips, as in Fig. 7, or to spread and bend its two halves intooppositely-curved positions, as in Fig. 8 orFig. 9, or crimp the slittedstrap trans 'versely. In any of these forms the bond yields tovibration, contraction, and expansion of the rails, can be applied underthe fish-plates,and has the advantage of being in a single piece ofmetal throughout. The electric carrying capacity of such a bond maybemade very great. If required,'the terminals may be made an inch or morein diameter of solid metal and the strap in proportion.

Rail-bonds of this general class are usually attached to the rails bybeing upset therein by a powerful compressor, either screw or bydraulic.To facilitate such operation, to minimize the weight of metal requiredfor a given vconducting and contact capacity, and to insure a lateralflow of the metal of the terminals radially outward against the walls ofthe holes in the rails, I proceed as follows: In forming the solidterminals A, I form the conical countersinks sin the center of theoutside or head of the terminal. The screw or ram is fitted with an endpiece having a conical pin 9, projecting axially, as in Fig. 12, andfitting the countersink. After the pin is pressed home in thecountersink s of the terminal in the operation of forcing the latterinto its hole in the rail the continued application of the pressurecauses the other side of the press to act upon the farther or inner endof the terminal and compels the metal from that side to flow down theconical face of the pin and'spread out and completely fill allirregularities in the walls of the hole.

WVhere extreme flexibility is desired, the fiat strap of the bond maybe'made relatively wider and thinner and the strips after slitting maybe twisted up nearly or wholly at right angles to the plane of thestrap.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A rail-bond made of wrought metal in one integral piececoinprisingshouldered solid rail attaching terminals and an edgewiseyielding fiat connecting-strap.

2. A rail-bond made of wrought metal in one integral piece comprising aflat conducting-strap, flexible edgewise, with solid terminals locatedWholly outside the flexible section of the strap and connected therewithby rigid portions forming shoulders for the terminals.

3. A rail-bond made of wrought metal in one integral piece comprisingsolid terminals with shoulders surrounding their bases and a fiat,edgewise-fleitible, conducting-strap connectingsaid shoulders.

A rail-bond made of wrought metal in one integral piece comprisingaflat,edgewiseflexible, conducting-strap having upset solid terminals. 7 I

5. A rail-bond made of Wrought metal in one integral piece comprising afiat, longitudinally-slitted, conducting-strap with upset solidshouldered terminals formed at right angles to the plane of the strap.

6. A one-piece rail-bond of wrought metal, consisting of the solidrail-attaching terminals A with heads or shoulders a surrounding thesame and connected between the shoulders by a flattened body or strapintegral therewith and slitted lengthwise between the said shoulders,substantially as described.

7. A rail-bond made of wrought metal in one integral piece consisting ofsolid rail-attaching terminals and a connecting-body of metal, suchterminals being cylindrical and having heads or shoulders surroundingtheir .outer ends, and conntersinks in the said outer ends,substantially as and for the purpose described.

Si ned at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 11th day of May, A. D. 1899.

THOMAS J. MCTIGHE.

Vitnesses:

WM. G. MoRRIsEY, FRANK W. BLANKLEY.

